1984Best of Show, Recent Works, College of Lake County, Grayslake, Illinois

1983College of Lake County Foundation Purchase Award, Recent Works on Paper,

College of Lake County, Grayslake Illinois

ARTIST STATEMENT

Every piece I make is a self-portrait. I understand myself and the world a little better with each completed piece. My work s very truthful whereas my words may or may not speak the truth. It seems to me more often than not words cloud the truth.

I have been doing sculpture with found and discarded materials for only about 5 years; most of my life I was painting. In a barn close to my studion there are lots of old rusty farm tools and parts of farm equipmeht. I take an old shovel and think now what can I do to this tool to make it a unique piece. What can I take away from it, add to it; how can I manipulate it to make it an expression of who I am yet still retain its "shovelness". I want to push the boundaries of this shovel as far as I can. When you, the viewer, look at my completed piece you see a part of me and a prt of yourself and we are connected.

Combining my shovel or other tool with found objects/materials and finding their hidden relationships which together creat a work of art is about as close to magic as I will ever get.